


Closer, closer

by meridianpony



Series: Love Language AU [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Bonding, Comfort, Cuddles, Gen, Kakashi needs all the hugs this time, Minato is a great teacher, Team 7 will be here eventually, There's a bit of blood and gore, Third Great Shinobi War, Torture, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-16 16:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8110225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianpony/pseuds/meridianpony
Summary: Many physical touch nin see their language as a weakness rather than a positive quality, and Kakashi is among them... at first. 
Unfortunately (or fortunately) for him, he has some pretty stubborn teammates, and they're not about to let him go without being cared for. 
(Love Language AU)





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is going to be a collection of Kakashi-based works featuring my love language au. If you haven't read my first fic for this series, I'd recommend reading it first (it explains a bunch of things). However, you can still read this if you're too lazy to go to the other one. Enjoy! 
> 
> (Also, the ANBU is an OC, sorry. But he won't ever appear again, so don't hate me)

When the ANBU agents creep silently into the Hatake compound, they are met with a still body and the high, uncontrollable sobbing of a young child.

  
Hatake Sakumo is dead, a dark stain of crimson spreading all over the floor beneath him, and curled up into his limp side is his son, shaking and crying out as if his whole world has been shattered.

  
It probably has.

  
There’s not a thing the ANBU can do for the White Fang. He’s been dead several hours now--his life taken by his own hand, in the wake of his disgrace. The ANBU stare at the scene with emotionless eyes.

  
Sakumo’s boy is still crying, and not showing any signs of stopping. He’s covered in blood and still trying futilely to wriggle closer to his father. He hasn’t even noticed the ANBU yet, and his tear-streaked face is contorted in the type of agony that makes even the ANBU pause and lower their heads.

  
Such grief does not suit one so young… but that’s unavoidable, at this point. Sakumo made his choice, and it was an honorable one.

  
There is the flash of hand symbols, and the ANBU step out of the shadows and into the moon-lit room. Sakumo’s boy goes still as he senses them, but does not stop crying, and doesn’t move from his father’s side.

  
The ANBU captain is the one to take the first step, gliding forwards on silent feet to kneel beside the body. At the motion the boy lets out another wail and buries his face into his father’s shoulder. The ANBU captain narrows her eyes when she spots the orange bracelet on the boy’s wrist.

  
The child’s language is only going to make this much, much harder. The ANBU sighs behind her mask and motions for one of her subordinates to see to the boy.

  
The ANBU man that steps up is wearing an eagle mask. He reaches for the hysterical child slowly and patiently, and when he finally puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder he freezes when the boy lets out a choked sob.

  
The child is far past any sort of rational thought. His eyes are wide and glazed over, yet he still has just enough coherency to struggle to stay by his father’s side, even when the eagle ANBU grabs him gently and lifts him away from the body.

  
His silver hair is stained red.

  
As soon as he is lifted away from Sakumo the boy goes limp in the ANBU’s arms, whimpering softly. His eyes are screwed shut, and he latches onto Eagle firmly, wrapping his tiny, trembling arms around cold, uncomfortable armor. His entire body shakes like a leaf--fragile, and so incredibly innocent.

  
Normal protocol for ANBU would require Eagle to keep completely still--he’s suppose to be emotionless, after all--but the ANBU takes one look at the orange bracelet on the boy’s wrist and throws all semblance of impassiveness out the window. He returns the boy’s desperate, shuddering hug with one of his own and glares at the ANBU captain when she shoots him a sharp look. She sighs and lets it go when the boy quiets a moment later--quivering all the same, but no longer wailing in agony.

  
Eagle keeps his arms firmly wrapped around the trembling boy and takes matters into his own hands, body-flickering out of the house.

  
The boy is completely silent now, and hardly moving at all besides his minute trembles. Eagle’s eyes narrow behind the mask. He’s worried, and in his terror for the innocent little thing clinging to him he heads straight for the one person he knows will be able to help.

  
Sarutobi, luckily, is in his office, even at this time of night. He stands from his desk in surprise when Eagle appears, clutching Sakumo’s son to his chest.

  
“What’s going on?” the Hokage says, eyes going very wide at the sight of the young Hatake burying his face into the ANBU’s shoulder. Eagle’s grip is tight.

  
“Hatake Sakumo has committed seppuku,” Eagle reports, tone flat despite the child. “We found his son by the body. It seems like he is experiencing major psychological and language-related trauma.”

  
The Hokage’s jaw tightens, and his eyes darken.

  
“Seppuku, you say,” he says, voice low. Then he stands and approaches Eagle carefully.

  
“Kakashi-kun,” he says softly. “Kakashi, can you hear me?”

Eagle shifts in an attempt to get the boy to respond, but Kakashi doesn’t move. The Hokage frowns.

  
“His language is physical touch, isn’t it,” he mutters. “He won’t want to move anytime soon.”  
Eagle, for some reason, doesn’t have any issues with that, and says as much. The Hokage nods at him.

  
“I’ll send for a language specialist,” he says. “Wait here until then, please.”

  
He leaves, probably to see to Sakumo. Eagle is alone, suddenly, with an armful of a traumatized child and a mask that feels more and more stifling with every passing moment.

  
ANBU do not wear their language bracelets--it’s far too easy for languages to be used against a shinobi, even with all of the vigorous training they undergo. Eagle’s is back at his home, and it is orange, just like the child he is now clutching like a lifeline, as if he can save the child’s innocence through sheer willpower alone.

  
(He cannot, and he knows this, but he can’t help but try.)

  
Eagle stands perfectly still and lets Kakashi hide himself from the horrors of the night. He sits in a chair to spare his arm muscles from the strain (even a child can be heavy after hours of holding it), and waits. He knows how his own language works… and Kakashi will be incoherent for a while.

  
That doesn’t bother him. He is a patient man.

  
The Hokage returns, with a medic-nin. They try to pry Kakashi off of him, and for the first time since Eagle had taken him from his father’s body, the boy moves, digging his fingers into their holds in Eagle’s armor and skin and clinging to him even tighter. A high whine escapes his throat, and his eyes open for a split second--they are glassy and vacant.

  
They leave him after that, per the medic-nin’s instruction. She doesn’t want to risk any further mental damage by taking him away from the one thing that he’s latched onto--especially if that thing is another physical touch language user. She willfully ignores the fact that he’s ANBU, and then leaves them, with a promise to come back once the boy is coherent again.

  
Eagle lets the child take all the time he needs to come back into the real world. Language is a complex thing, after all. This time it’s working as a defense mechanism--disassociation from the real world. Eagle hopes that the boy will snap out of it soon. Even ANBU can’t disassociate for too long, or risk throwing themselves into the abyss of darkness that can be found at the edge of every mind.

  
The Hokage is silent, sipping at tea at his desk and eyes staring sightlessly at the far wall. The man is grieving for the White Fang, and Eagle does not attempt to speak to him. He closes his eyes and holds onto the child in his arms as if his life depends on it.

  
An hour passes in silence, and Eagle is roused out of his own thoughts when Kakashi stirs in his arms weakly and lifts his head. The child moves slowly, as if a heavy weight is pressing down on him, and his eyes are finally comprehensive. They move to stare into Eagle’s mask, and Eagle can still see shock and sorrow clearly in his young face.

  
The boy’s fingers tighten again.

  
“Father…?” he says softly, small voice trembling even as it splits the silence like thunder. Eagle cannot speak--there is a lump in his throat that will not go away, and the Hokage’s gaze is sympathetic.

  
Wordlessly, he shakes his head.  
Kakashi blinks at him for a moment.

  
“Oh.”

  
Amazing, how much pain could be packed into that one, tiny syllable.

  
Eagle finally clears his throat.

  
“I’m sorry,” he says. He doesn’t know why he’s saying it. He knows, more than anyone else, how meaningless that word is in the wake of death. It is said far too often in the ANBU line of work.

  
Kakashi hasn’t let go of him, hasn’t shown any sign that he even intends to.

  
“Oh,” the boy says again. His eyes glint with unshed tears. “Oh.”

  
He presses his face into Eagle’s shoulder again, ignoring the hard edges of his armor. He sobs--it is muffled, and Eagle can tell he’s holding back this time.

  
He’s still broken, but at least this time he isn’t completely gone. He’s aware of what’s going on, and that’s a huge improvement from before.

  
Eagle will be a source of comfort for the boy for as long as necessary. He may be ANBU, but he isn’t heartless.

  
(Not yet, at least.)

  
Now that Kakashi has return to rational thinking the medical-nin is called in again. She stands before Eagle expectantly, and he loosens his hold on Kakashi reluctantly. The boy whimpers in protest, and Eagle runs a gloved hand through his hair.

  
“Kakashi…” he says softly, unsure of how to properly address the boy. “You need to go with her.”

  
Kakashi squeezes his eyes closed and shakes his head several times. He doesn’t speak, and Eagle smashes down the twinge of guilt that builds up in his chest, slams the surge of protectiveness into a cage and locks it tight. His language is beginning to influence his emotions, and if he doesn’t do something about it soon it will start to affect his actions as well.

  
“Go,” he says, more firmly this time. “You need to eat, and rest.” The medical-nin comes closer, and Eagle passes Kakashi over to her arms. Kakashi flinches but doesn’t protest again, and allows himself to be carried out of the Hokage’s office.

  
Eagle lets out a sharp breath once he’s gone and lifts a hand to his face. It knocks against his mask, reminds him that right now he’s still ANBU, and he rises to salute the Hokage, who is watching him with a strange expression on his face.

  
(The spots on his his chest and arms that had been covered by Kakashi are strangely cold now. Eagle tries his best to ignore them.)

  
“ANBU-san,” the Hokage says. “I have no need of you for the rest of the night. You may go home.”  
Eagle starts in surprise.

  
“Hokage-sama,” he says, “my shift doesn’t end until--”

  
“I know when it ends,” the Hokage interrupts him, and Eagle falls silent. The Hokage’s gaze turns soft. “You have a wife, and a child, do you not? Go home to them. Kakashi’s shock has negatively affected your language energy--unintentionally, mind you, and not your fault. A child’s distress is sometimes powerful enough to harm even the most well-trained shinobi.”

  
Eagle looks down and sees that the Hokage is right--his hands are shaking. He hadn’t noticed until now.

  
“Yes, Hokage-sama,” he says gratefully, bowing, and disappears from the office in a haze of smoke.

* * *

 His wife is roused from sleep when he comes in through the window. She’s a shinobi, too, after all, and he had made sure to make his footsteps loud enough to be heard as he approached. She smiles at him, rising from the bed to meet him, and he wraps his arms around her immediately.

  
“Are you alright?” she asks, concern lacing her voice--she can feel that he’s shaking, and knows it was a bad day. “Is it something you can talk about?”

  
He clenches his teeth and lets her sooth him for a moment, grateful for her presence and ability to restore his language energy.

  
“Not yet,” he says. “But you’ll know tomorrow, I think.”

  
She nods.

  
“Come on, you’re tired. It’s time for bed.”

  
He nods and glances towards the door. Beyond it his own son sleeps peacefully, barely younger than Kakashi, and it makes his throat clench in sorrow.

  
The poor Hatake boy doesn't deserve such a fate. And his language is only going to make things harder. Many physical touch nin see their language as a weakness rather than a positive quality, and with no parents to guide him, he’s worried that Kakashi will turn out the same way.

  
His wife is beautiful and intelligent and kind, and can see that his mind is in a dark place. She grabs his arm in a light grip and hugs him.

  
“It will be alright,” she says. “Whatever happened cannot be changed, so there’s no use dwelling on it so much. Come on. Your language energy is low--it won’t stay like that if I have anything to say about it.”

  
He lets her drag him to their bed and falls asleep with her curled up next to him, sharing her body heat and filling his heart with hope and love.

  
He doesn’t know what he would do without her.

* * *

 For all of his wife’s words, at the funeral, Eagle sees Sakumo’s son standing at the front of the crowd, head held high and expression emotionless. He doesn’t let anyone touch him at all--the comforting hands and hugs that are aimed at him are subtly knocked aside or dodged.

  
He isn’t in uniform, so he can’t pretend to know the child, and must only settle for bowing his head and telling him, “I am sorry for your loss”, watching the boy shift his weight so he can move backwards if Eagle goes to touch him. Kakashi returns his bow formally and says thank you, but there is no light in his eyes. Eagle feels something in his chest clench--both in sorrow in the boy’s behalf and in fear. Kakashi is too young to understand what denial of his language will do to him, and at this rate, he’ll have to find out the hard way.

  
It is not a fun lesson to learn.

* * *

 A day later Kakashi starts wearing a mask. Eagle watches the young boy from the rooftops, and resists the urge to scream. One so young should not be bearing such hard weight.

  
But in the end there’s nothing he can do to help. He doubts Kakashi even remembers the faceless ANBU who had comforted him the night of the tragedy, and he has no way to approach the boy in the meantime.

  
So he watches, and waits, and watches some more.

  
That is all he can do.


	2. War on the Horizon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kakashi is a genin, a war is begun, and Kakashi's language is the key to keeping their team together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't imagining Kakashi as a six year old as I was writing this, despite that being canon. However, it's a fanfiction. Imagine him however you want. He's a child genius, after all.

 

Kakashi’s team is… tolerable. Namikaze Minato is their jounin-sensei, and that’s definitely a perk—the man is powerful, and a good teacher. Rin is kind and peaceful, even if that’s not very shinobi-like, and Obito is loud and honest, and late to absolutely _everything_. Between Rin’s medical skills, Kakashi’s combat prowess, and Obito’s soon-to-be sharingan, they’re a decent team. Kakashi wouldn’t have any complaints under normal circumstances, even if Obito does occasionally make him want to stab himself with his tanto blade.

The only problem is that they keep trying to _touch him_ , and Kakashi is _not_ okay with that.

He can’t exactly hide his bracelet from them. It’s not allowed, but sometimes Kakashi wishes that he could. He doesn’t want to be touched, but his team seems to think that he does.

Obito is the worst. He slides up against Kakashi’s side like it’s the most casual thing in the world, taps him on the back, shoves him playfully when Kakashi isn’t expecting it. It’s _infuriating_ , but every time Kakashi tries to move away Obito just comes closer.

Rin isn’t as bad, but her touches seem to linger on his skin long after she takes them away—cautious taps to his forearm, brushes of her fingers over his as she passes him a spare kunai. Kakashi dreads it every time, bracing himself for the contact and tearing away if it starts to become too much.

Minato-sensei is no exception. Out of all three, his touches are the least common, but they’re just as bad—a hand clapped over his shoulder, a ruffle of his hair.  
Kakashi hates it, hates being touched—physical contact has never helped him in any way, and it definitely won’t do anything for him now.

(Sometimes Minato-sensei will stare at him quietly, with dark eyes that hold deep sorrow and concern within their depths. Kakashi ignores it. He doesn’t feel unstable, or angry—in fact, he feels nothing at all. He’s managed to get rid of his _language_ issue long ago.)

* * *

  
They have a mission. It isn’t a big deal—a C-rank, except in their time of almost-war even the simplest of D-rank missions that take place outside the village walls can be dangerous. Minato-sensei is keeping a watchful eye out anyway, and Kakashi trusts him to defend their backs.

They’re just taking a few scrolls of information to an outpost just a few kilometers away from the Land of Fire’s borders. It’s a routine mission, standard and commonly done by genin teams. This is Kakashi’s fourth time doing it, and by now he knows their route like the hilt of his blade. Obito is in front of him, with Rin behind, and Minato-sensei bringing up the rear.

Kakashi, admittedly, isn’t really paying too much attention to his surroundings—despite the growing tension with Iwagakure they are still within the thin illusion of peace. There’s no real reason for him—or any of them, for that matter—to truly be on guard.

So, when the killing intent splits the very air around them and shadows streak from the trees, it is only Minato-sensei’s quick reflexes that stop them from all being killed just by that first attack.

For the first time in his life, Kakashi is left completely paralyzed by the force of the brutal bloodlust that suddenly surrounds him. He’s felt killing intent before, but never directed at him, and certainly never this intense. In that instant, he truly believes he is about to die, and staggers unsteadily on the branch he had landed on, squeezing his eyes shut and gasping for air.

Something whizzes past his ear, and suddenly steel clashes far too close to his head for comfort. A hand is placed on his shoulder.

“Kakashi, breath,” Minato-sensei orders. “Calm down. Obito and Rin need you.”

His voice is cold and firm, and Kakashi opens his eyes. Minato is standing in front of him, a kunai locked with another from the enemy nin in place just above Kakashi’s head. His eyes glint like steel, and the hand on Kakashi’s shoulder tightens.

Suddenly, Kakashi can move, and he grits his teeth, leaping backwards and out of Minato’s way. Obito and Rin flank him nervously, weapons drawn but shaking. Kakashi isn’t much better.

The killing intent had been _real_. This battle was _real_. The tone of Minato-sensei’s voice had been serious— _deadly_ so.

This isn’t training anymore.

Minato is grappling with the ninja who had nearly taken Kakashi’s head off, and manages to kick him away. He flashes back to stand in front of the rest of his team. The jounin draws another kunai, and suddenly their sensei’s killing intent is filling the air as well—not aimed at them, but almost unbearably suffocating and strong.

“The rank of this mission has just moved from C-rank to A-rank,” Minato-sensei tells them quietly. “These shinobi are of Iwagakure, and have declared war on Konoha just by attacking us on our land.” He doesn’t take his eyes off of their assembling attackers as he speaks. Iwa nin are filling the forest, leering at their team with narrowed, judgeful eyes.

"This is the first time you will experience true combat,” Minato-sensei says emotionlessly. “One wrong move can and _will_ get you killed. However,” here he pauses, and for a brief moment the happy and supporting teacher they know is back, smiling gently at them. “I have taught you well. Remember what you have learned, and do your best. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

His words are comforting, despite the knowledge that Minato can’t possibly keep his promise. Kakashi straightens, tightening his grip on his father’s blade. Obito and Rin press closer to him to tighten their formation. Kakashi can’t find it in himself to protest.

“Rin, Kakashi, Obito,” Minato-sensei says. “I want you two to get to the outpost and get help, as fast as you can. You’ll be pursued,” he continues grimly. “I can’t keep all of them away. If you can get to the outpost, you’ll be safe.”

“Sensei—” Rin starts to say, eyes wide, but the Iwa nin suddenly move, and a swarm of shuriken spin towards them. Kakashi leaps backwards on instinct, his teammates right behind him, and suddenly Minato lets out a war cry and charges the horde of enemy ninja.

“Go!” their teacher shouts, throwing a kunai with enough force to punch right through a tree trunk, and Kakashi turns to leave, mindlessly obeying his orders—

Except Rin and Obito are frozen, staring at their sensei as he throws orbs of glowing chakra through the ranks of Iwa shinobi, moving with all the power and force of a hurricane.

Kakashi has to look away quickly, for the fear that he, too, will be captivated by the amazing sight. But they need to move—true to Minato-sensei’s words, there are shadows streaking past Minato and headed straight for them.

“Rin! Obito, we need to go!”

They unfreeze at his shout, and as a single unit they turn and dart into the trees. For all of their arguing, they have been taught well, and they’re a good team.

Dark shapes flicker behind them, slowly catching up. Kakashi glances to his left and his right—his teammates are still at his sides. Rin has the scrolls for the outpost in her medical pack, tightly rolled up to protect the information within.

Worst come to worst, they can send her ahead, and Kakashi and Obito can do their best to stall the Iwa nin for as long as they can. It isn’t an ideal plan, but at least it is a plan. They’re young—no match for the speed fully grown jounin can achieve. It’s only a matter of time before they’re caught.

To his right, a sudden whistling noise fills his ears. He calls out in wordless warning, but it’s too late—Obito yelps in surprise and pain as a kunai nicks his side.

Just a little to the left and it would have stabbed him through the center of his back. A ripple of fear runs down Kakashi’s spine as Obito lurches unsteadily, but he pulls through the pain and keeps up with them well, face tight and hand pressed to his wound.

The ninja are close enough that Kakashi can make out numbers now. There are at least four people chasing them through the trees, and there’s still a good six kilometers before they arrive at the outpost.

They’re not going to make it, and when he glances at his teammates they seem to have come to the same conclusion. Obito lands closer to him than usual on their next leap, and meets Kakashi’s gaze. His eyes are wide, but the determination there is startling, and Kakashi nods at him.

They know what they have to do.

There is an explosion emanating from where they’d left their sensei. It’s not much, but two out of the four Iwa nin jerk in surprise at the noise, and Obito and Kakashi take the initiative, throwing handfuls of senbon back towards their opponents. They’re aimed well, and the attack is unexpected enough that the enemy nin curse in surprise, halting their advances for a moment in favor of seeking cover.

Kakashi lands sideways, chakra keeping him attached to the trunk of a tree, and Obito lands on a branch above him.

Rin slows.

“What are you two—?” she begins in panic, jerking like she’s going to come back and join them.

“Go, Rin!” Obito shouts. “Get to the outpost and warn them! Hurry!”

Rin’s eyes widen, and she stops on the next branch, a protest rising on her lips. Kakashi draws his father’s blade off of his back and narrows his eyes, keeping careful tabs on each of their enemies.

“Go,” he says. “If they catch us, Konoha won’t know that they’re coming. Get to the outpost.”

Rin shakes her head, but even as she does she turns and resumes her pace, zooming through the trees towards the outpost. She knows that they don’t have a choice, and even though she doesn’t like it (she knows what they’re sacrificing, that they will die), she will complete her duty to the village.

The Iwagakure ninja don’t pursue Rin. Instead they circle around the two easy targets, leering at Kakashi and Obito mockingly.

“Think your little friend will make it to your outpost before we kill you?” one sneers, palming a kunai casually. His killing intent is sinister, and Kakashi falters before it. He moves so that he’s closer to Obito, and the Uchiha does the same, until they’re back to back. Kakashi would normally move away, but under the pressure of four massive chakras it is strangely nice to have something at his back.

He knows that it’s because of his language, and he _hates_ it. Kakashi doesn’t want to rely on someone else in order to stand tall. He wants to be able to do it himself… but he can’t quite move away—doesn’t _want to—_

“Kakashi?” Obito whispers, and Kakashi realizes he’s gone tense at Obito’s back—a tense shinobi is a dead one, so Kakashi relaxes slightly.

Obito’s language is acts of service, but words of affirmation normally have a good effect on him as well even though it isn’t his main language. Kakashi exhales.

“Obito. We can do this,” he says. It’s false, of course, but his portrayed confidence—in them _both_ , the _we_ is most important there—is enough to make Obito relax slightly as well.

Unfortunately the enemy nin don’t give either of them time to gather their thoughts. They charge forwards. The two closer to Kakashi are wielding a kunai and a tanto, respectively, and the man with the kunai darts in first. Kakashi is forced to roll away from Obito to avoid the heavy blow, dodging the blade and coming up with his own short sword at the ready.

Obito shouts something, words lost in the clash of swords as Kakashi blocks a powerful blow from the second Iwa nin (he’s much stronger than Kakashi, and his strike sends a painful jolt down Kakashi’s forearm). Fire blossoms from Obito’s general direction—the Great Fireball Jutsu, no doubt, but his opponents are skilled, and avoid the flames with expertise.

Kakashi has the sinking feeling that this isn’t going to end well.

He’s forced to turn his attention back to his own fight when the man with the kunai comes shooting towards him from out of the corner of Kakashi’s eye. Kakashi leaps over his head and twists in midair to throw a handful of shuriken at his attackers, but they’re deflected. He claps his hands together as he lands, sheathing his sword for a moment and sending a high C-rank earth jutsu towards his opponents. Stone shards leap to life and dart towards the Iwa nin like tiny bullets, but the tanto-wielder drops his sword and presses his hands together in a series of seals that Kakashi only dimly recognizes. Lightning swirls around the ninja in what has to be at least a B-rank jutsu, deflecting all of Kakashi’s rock shards and forcing Kakashi to retreat.

Behind him, Obito lets out a cry of pain.

They’re hopelessly outclassed. Hopefully they can hold out long enough to allow Rin to get to the outpost.

The kunai nin sighs loudly, and the noise makes Kakashi narrow his eyes.

“Alright, guys, quit playing around. As fun as the baby-nin are to play with, we don’t have all day.”

“You’re one to talk,” one of Obito’s opponents says, and even as he speaks there’s a horrible _crack_ and Obito makes a noise that sounds like a barely contained scream. “You were messing around too, you know.” There’s a thud and then the definite sound of someone hitting the ground _hard_. Obito moans in pain, and Kakashi flinches.

That isn’t a sound he ever wants to hear again.

He goes to move, to fight, to rush to Obito— _anything_ , really—but before he can so much as twitch a fist slams into his sternum and blasts him backwards.

Kakashi hadn’t even seen the Iwa nin _move_.

He hits the ground but rolls with the impact, tumbling until he’s on his hands and knees and skidding to a stop. When he raises his head, it’s just in time to see a sword slashing towards his head, and he throws himself to the side, drawing upon his element in panic. A spark of electricity flickers in his hand, and he throws it forwards without hesitation. The shinobi yelps, and Kakashi scrambles to his feet.

“Brat,” one of the Iwa nin hisses. “Give up. You’re no match for us.”

Kakashi’s mind is straining, throwing up a hundred different scenarios at once, and most of them end with his own death. There are three Iwa nin on him now, and one is glowering at him angrily from his earlier lightning trick.

Without any warning, two of them rush him, almost faster than Kakashi’s eye can see. He throws his hands together like his life depends on it (it does) and makes the seals for the replacement jutsu faster than he ever has in his life. The blades swipe down towards him, and then suddenly Kakashi isn’t there anymore, and there’s a log in his place. Kakashi is behind them, and he lets loose two handfuls of shuriken—two hit their marks, nonvital, but painful nonetheless, and one of the Iwa nin swears in frustration.

“For a genin, you aren’t half bad, kid,” one of the ninja says. “It’s a pity we have to kill you so young. Well, it’s bad for you, but good for us. I wouldn’t want to fight you a few years from now.”

Kakashi grits his teeth together and pulls at his chakra, assuming a defensive position and drawing his sword again as the ninja approach him—much more cautiously than before.

The replacement jutsu won’t work, this time.

“This is stupid,” the tanto nin groans. “He’s literally half our size. I’m sick of this.” He raises his hand and _points_ at Kakashi—but something isn’t right. Chakra surges, and suddenly Kakashi is dizzy, disoriented, and struggling to stay on his feet. There’s only one explanation, and even as Kakashi staggers he lifts his trembling hands into the release seal—

Then the genjutsu strengthens, pressing incessantly at his mind, and Kakashi gasps as the world swims before his eyes. Colors blur together and sounds ring in his ears—he doesn’t even notice that his knees have hit the dirt until he finally gains enough awareness to gasp out the one word he needs.

“ _Release_.”

The genjutsu shatters. Kakashi slumps, panting for breath—

And then there’s a knife pressed against his throat.

“A good effort, boy, but not nearly enough. I would say I’m sorry, but you see,” the man holding the knife says, “I’m not.”

From his position Kakashi can see Obito, curled into a ball on the ground and hunched protectively over what looks like a broken arm. His body is trembling, and he moves weakly when the fourth ninja, standing above him, draws a kunai.

His head turns, from across the small clearing, and their eyes meet. Obito’s are bright with pain, instead of his usual cheer, and his expression is nothing short of terrified. Kakashi isn’t much better, and he sucks in a shaky breath.

At least Rin got away. Kakashi hopes she’s safe.

“Ah, well, kiddies. Enjoy the afterlife, m’kay? The rest of your village will be there soon, so there’s no need to worry.”

Another Iwa nin laughs, high and mocking. Kakashi feels fury jolt through his body, but he can’t move. The ninja’s arm tenses, the knife brushes his throat, and Kakashi closes his eyes.

It’s over.

And then, suddenly, it’s not.

There is a bright flash, and a shout of alarm. The knife nicks Kakashi’s throat, just barely drawing blood, before it is yanked away and the ninja behind Kakashi screams in pain. Another bright flash that Kakashi can see even though his eyes are squeezed shut, and then a shout.

Kakashi opens his eyes.

Namikaze Minato is a sight to behold. The man is holding a kunai in one hand, dripping with crimson liquid, and a whirling Rasengan in the other. His face is emotionless, but his killing intent makes the air thick. Even Kakashi struggles to breath, and it isn’t even directed at him.

Two of the Iwa nin are dead, motionless on the cold earth. The other two are frozen, staring at Minato in thinly disguised fear and awe. Their teacher is standing over Obito defensively, and his gaze pins their enemies in place.

“Did you think I would abandon my students so easily?” Minato says softly, and that makes him sound even more deadly. “Did you think I wouldn’t fight tooth and nail, through anyone you could throw at me, in order to keep them safe?”

The Iwa nin cower before him. Minato’s face is still dangerously, terrifyingly blank.

“You have two seconds to get out of my sight,” Minato says, “or I’ll kill you. Go tell the Tsuchikage that he has made a grave mistake, attacking us like this. Konoha will not let you get away with it.”

The Iwa nin are gone so fast that if Kakashi had blinked, he would have missed it.

Minato waits for long moment before he lets Rasengan spiral out of existence harmlessly, and pockets his kunai. He tilts his head, listening for any sign of the enemy, before his shoulders sag and he turns to Kakashi and Obito fearfully. Kakashi moves to join him as Minato-sensei kneels over Obito, whose eyes have finally glazed over in pain.

“Obito. Obito, can you hear me?” Minato-sensei says urgently, and Obito groans, eyes sliding into focus.

“Yesshh,” the Uchiha slurs. He’s gone into shock. Minato grimaces and slowly picks Obito up, whispering a soft apology when the movement jostles Obito’s arm more and the boy gasps weakly.

Kakashi stands as well and blinks in surprise when he sways on his feet—he can barely stand. Minato doesn’t grab him, but he looks like he wants to, and Kakashi presses his hand to his head in an attempt to find some sort of balance.

“‘Kashi,” Obito mumbles. “‘Kashi, you're bleeding.”

Kakashi lifts a hand to his neck. When he draw it away it his fingers are stained red.

“Oh,” Kakashi says. He puts pressure on it. Minato-sensei shoots him a concerned glance, but doesn't comment.

“Where is Rin?” the man asks. “You sent her ahead?”

Kakashi nods. It’s funny—he hardly used any chakra, but he’s so _tired_.

“We sent her with the scrolls, and to get help,” he reports. “She should be arriving there soon, and then they’ll send reinforcements. Right?”

“Right,” Minato confirms, but something is… off, in his tone. He sounds worried. Minato-sensei never sounds worried, and it throws Kakashi off for a moment.

“Minato-sensei?” he says, and Minato shakes his head.

“Can you run?” he asks. “We’ll get Obito help faster if we meet the help halfway.” Kakashi nods, and Minato takes to the trees, cradling Obito’s limp form carefully. Kakashi follows him, but the world seems to blurring past him—his eyes are having trouble focusing, and his body goes on autopilot, leaping from branch to branch without even thinking about it.

His mind blanks out. The trek through the forest passes in a flash, and then suddenly he’s surrounded by people who are unfamiliar and who speak to him loudly, as if he can’t hear them, and then softly, like they’re bothering him. Kakashi… doesn’t want to respond. His whole body feels like it’s going to shut down at any moment, and it’s that sinking, uncontrollable feeling that finally gets him in the end—he panics, and lashes out at the first person who gets too close.

There is a shout of surprise, and then hands are grabbing him, all over.

He _hates_ being touched. He thrashes in their grip, but they hold him tighter, pinning his arms to his body, and Kakashi _hates this_ , hates that he can’t control it, hates that he can’t move—

Someone is calling his name, over and over again. Kakashi lets out a sharp exhale at the sound and turns his head, looking for the source, but everything is blurring, darkening, and he gives one last futile shove at the arms holding him tightly before he’s shoved underneath the darkness, and he knows no more.

* * *

 

Consciousness returns to him slowly. The first thing he feels is a massive pounding in his head--a pressure that makes him grit his teeth in pain. He’s warm, and his head is propped up on something soft despite the constant ache. He twitches his fingers next, and it is a relief that they all respond to his commands. He’s kept his breathing even until now (standard shinobi training), and only once he’s determined that he’s not being kept in an enemy prison does he let his breathing deepen.

“Kakashi,” someone calls, and Kakashi recognizes the voice—Minato-sensei. He cracks an eye open and hisses when the sudden intrusion of light makes his head throb even worse than before.

Minato places a hand over his Kakashi’s face.

“Don’t try to move yet, Kakashi. You’re far from recovered.”

Kakashi hisses.

“I can tell,” he groans. “What… what happened?” His memory is… spotty, which is worrying. The last thing he remembers is following Minato and Obito through the trees to meet with their reinforcements. Anything after that is a black blur that he can’t make any sense of.

Minato is silent for a moment, and Kakashi’s mind immediately begins to race.

“Rin and Obito? Are they—?”

“They’re fine,” Minato-sensei says. He sounds… tired. “Obito’s arm is in a split, and Rin had a minor case of chakra exhaustion from running so quickly. She’s fine now, fully recovered, and Obito’s injury was a clean break. It’s healing well.”

Kakashi narrows his eyes.

“Based on what you just said, they’ve had more than enough time to recover,” he says carefully. “So why am I only now waking up?”

Minato doesn’t answer, and Kakashi opens his eyes fully, flinching at the pain that suddenly pierces through his skull.

“Minato-sensei,” he says, and sits up. He’s in a small hospital room—Minato is sitting next to his bed, and it looks like he hasn’t slept in days. His appearance is so surprising that Kakashi is rendered speechless for a moment.

“What’s going on?” Kakashi says, straining to shove down the fear and insecurity that suddenly threatens to rise in his chest. Something definitely isn’t right, and Kakashi has absolutely no idea what it is, but for Minato-sensei to look like _that_ it must be pretty bad.

His head won’t stop pounding.

Finally, after what seems like hours, Minato raises his head.

“Kakashi, you realize that you can trust us, right? Me, Obito, and Rin… we’re your team. You can rely on us if you need to.”

Well, that hasn’t cleared anything up. Kakashi is still confused, and he gives Minato his best, _well duh_ , look. Minato smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Well, if you claim to know that, then why didn’t you?”

It’s said so quietly that Kakashi almost misses it, and he flinches at Minato’s words.

“What—what do you mean?” Kakashi asks, unable to keep the shock from out of his expression. “I—"

“Kakashi, you’ve been in critical condition from _language deprivation_ for five days!” Minato-sensei suddenly exclaims, voice far too loud in the small room. “Why didn’t you say anything? We could have helped you!”

The man rubs his face with his hand in exasperation.

“You weren’t injured, but I could tell something was wrong. You could barely stand, and you were… detached. You weren’t responding to me like you usually were.” He takes a deep breath. “Obito had to take priority, and you could at least run, so I decided you would be fine at least until we got back to the outpost. But when the reinforcements arrived, and a medical-nin tried to check up on you… you wouldn’t let her get close. You had to be held down, and you didn’t respond to anyone. Once you fell unconscious, the medic nin diagnosed you with language deprivation.”

He stares at Kakashi, and his eyes disapproving, as if he expects Kakashi to say something in his own defense.

“Oh,” Kakashi says instead. Minato sighs.

“How long has it been since you’ve had a session, Kakashi?” he asks, and Kakashi stiffens. Sessions are designed specifically for physical touch nin, in order to rejuvenate their language energy after a particularly draining event. None of the other languages are finicky enough to require such a session.

Kakashi hasn’t had a real one since his father…

Not that he’s going to admit that. He stares at Minato stubbornly.

“I don’t need a session,” he says firmly. “And I feel fine, now. I just need a little bit of rest.” He moves to sit up as he speaks, and his head greatly disapproves—so much so that Kakashi flinches, squinting against the pain. Minato-sensei sighs again, as if that proves a point.

“You’re not fine,” he says. “You need a session.”

Kakashi glares at him.

“I don’t,” he says back. “I don’t _like_ sessions. They’re time consuming, and frustrating. There’s no need.”

He should have known that Minato isn’t going to let it go easily. His language is acts of service, after all.

“If you don’t get a session soon, then the Hokage will be forced to take you off of active duty,” Minato tells him seriously. Kakashi’s mouth feels dry, and he scowls.

“He can’t—"

“Are you really about to try and tell me what the Hokage can and can’t do?” Minato-sensei says in amusement, and Kakashi looks away. Minato falls silent.

“Kakashi,” he says slowly. “I don’t think you realize what you’re doing.”

Kakashi can feel himself losing control of his temper. He clenches his fists below the sheets, but Minato keeps talking.

“I recognized the signs at the beginning—we all did. We knew you didn’t want to be touched, but we did it anyway, because where else were you going to get your language energy replenished? I should have known it wasn’t going to be enough.”

Kakashi doesn’t want to hear this. His jaw tightens.

“The attack… it was your first time experiencing true combat. On top of that, you and Obito were nearly killed. The stress and fear took your already low language energy and completely destroyed what remained.”

“What’s your point?” Kakashi growls. “It’s fine. I’m alright now, so there’s no reason to tell me this. Stop bringing it up!”

Minato smiles, but it’s not a nice smile.

“And you’ve just proved my point,” he says softly. “The Kakashi I know would never snap at me like that. At Obito, maybe, but at me?”

He… is right. Kakashi _never_ disrespects their teacher.

“You see?” Minato-sensei asks. “You can’t keep living like this, Kakashi. Even if you train for years to suppress your language, eventually it will catch up to you.”

“I don’t care!” Kakashi spits out, suddenly and with so much venom in his voice that it shocks even himself into silence.

They are both quiet for a moment.

“I… don’t care,” Kakashi says, regaining his control. “I don’t like my language. I don’t _want_ it.”

“Stubborn,” Minato says softly. He reaches a hand out and strokes his fingers through Kakashi’s hair before the genin can flinch away.

His touch feels… nice. Kakashi is already leaning into it before he realizes what he’s doing. From there it takes him far too much effort to pull away from the contact.

“You _need_ this,” Minato insists. “Why are you hurting yourself like this? What are you so afraid of?”

Kakashi stiffens. Minato is getting a little too close to the truth, and he doesn’t like it.

“I’m not afraid,” he says indignantly. Minato hums.

“Prove it. Have a session. I’ll make a deal with you. If a single session doesn’t improve your training results, attitude, and stress levels, I won’t ever bring up the topic again.”  
Kakashi stares at him. The offer is… tempting, for sure. But is it worth it?

“Just once,” Minato-sensei prompts. “Once, and if you hate it, you won’t have to do it again.”

Kakashi takes a deep breath.

“Fine,” he forces out. “I’ll do it.” He knows that he’ll hate it. He hasn’t had an enjoyable session since his father died, and he isn’t expecting that this one will be any different.

Minato smiles in approval.

“Good,” he says. “Come on, let’s go get the others.”

Kakashi blinks in surprise.

“Others?”

By others, Minato-sensei means Obito and Rin, who have been waiting for him outside his hospital room. Minato helps him to his feet (which makes Kakashi scowl, he doesn’t _need_ help), and the moment they emerge into the hallway Kakashi is hit by two enthusiastic genin, who wrap their arms around him.

“Kakashi!” Obito cheers, beaming. “You’re not dead!”

“He wasn’t dying anyway, Obito,” Rin reminds him, but her arms tighten around Kakashi’s waist. Kakashi shifts awkwardly in their hold.

“Hi,” he says awkwardly in greeting. They pull back from him, and grin.

“Idiot,” Obito tells him matter-of-factly. “Only you would be dumb enough to let your language get this bad. We were trying to help, but it wasn’t enough, huh?”

“You should have said something!” Rin breathes, finally releasing Kakashi’s waist. “Don’t you realize how bad you were?”

The way they’re talking… it sounds as if… they’re expecting to help him. To be in a session with him.

Kakashi whips his head towards their teacher.

“No,” he growls. “Not them.”

Minato lifts an eyebrow.

“Who else is going to do it?” he asks. “We both know that it won’t work unless it’s someone you’re close to.”

“I don’t want them to—"

Obito slides closer to him, hooking an arm around Kakashi’s shoulder. Kakashi freezes under his touch, struggling to hide how nice it feels.

“What, you don’t want us to see how cuddly you are? Think we’ll look down on you if you need us for one night?”

Kakashi opens his mouth to protest, but Rin beats him there.

“Obito! Don’t say it like that!” She takes a deep breath. “Kakashi, you’re strong. But no one can be strong forever.”

“ _I_ can,” Kakashi says, because if he doesn’t fight this he doesn’t know what he’ll do.

“No, you can’t,” Rin says softly. “Let us help. Just this once.”

“Yeah, c’mon,” Obito chimes in. “It’s no big deal, happens to everyone. Language is just part of life.”

Kakashi looks between them, at Obito’s face, bright and cheerful, and Rin’s, hopeful and kind. Minato is urging him on with his eyes, and Kakashi feels his resistance start to crumble.

“Please, Kakashi,” Minato-sensei pleads, and Kakashi is done.

“Fine,” he says quietly. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

They stare back at him, happy, proud, and Kakashi wants to sink into the floor and disappear.

* * *

  
  
They go to Minato’s house. It’s the only place Kakashi would want to do it anyway. The Hatake compound is far too large—far too empty, and full of memories that make it too difficult to relax. So it’s only right that they head towards Minato’s home. Obito and Rin practically drag Kakashi along, and Minato-sensei leads the way, opening his front door and calling a cheerful greeting to Kushina. She waves at them as Obito and Rin frog-march Kakashi inside and shut the door behind them.

“Oh,” she says, glancing between the three genin and winking at them, “I see what’s going on. I’ll get some snacks ready for when you all are finished, alright?”

Kakashi wants to say, “Save me, please,” but Obito and Rin each put a hand on his shoulder and steer him away before he can speak. They follow Minato through his home and into a bedroom.

Kakashi is… having trouble processing what’s going on. Everything seems to be moving so fast, and he can’t focus on what’s happening.

They let him go when they get into the room, and suddenly Kakashi realizes why they’d been holding onto him so tight—his entire body is tense, as if he’s preparing to run.

He _is_ preparing to run. Unfortunately, his team sees it, and are prepared—Minato stands by the window, arms crossed, and Obito and Rin stand in front of the door.

Kakashi could fight, but Minato is strong—Obito and Rin he can probably get past, but could he do it before Minato intervenes?

“Kakashi,” Minato says. “Calm down.”

Kakashi hadn’t even noticed that his breathing had picked up, and the realization makes him _frustrated_.

“Hey,” Obito says. “You know the facts, even if you don’t like it. Put up with it for the sake of your mental state, and if you hate it we’ll leave you alone.”

That’s… surprisingly insightful of Obito, and Kakashi closes his eyes. Someone grabs his hand—it’s Rin.

“Why don’t you want to?” she asks. “Why do you hate it so much?”

Kakashi falters. He… knows why he hates it. But that doesn’t mean he wants to tell them.

“Maybe… we can help. If you tell us why,” Rin continues, tightening her fingers around his wrist. “Please?”

Kakashi turns his head away from her gaze, but Obito grabs his hand on his other side.

“‘Kashi,” he whispers. “Let us help.”

Some sort of dam inside Kakashi breaks. His shoulders slump, and his head suddenly feels too heavy for his own shoulders.

“Don’t want you to—” he starts, mumbling the words, and then stops, because it’s so _stupid_.

“Don’t want us to what?” Minato asks softly. Kakashi shakes his head, and almost takes a step back. He doesn’t want to talk about this.

Through wordless agreement Obito and Rin grab him and tug his unresisting body towards the bed in the middle of the room. It’s Minato’s bed, but that fact doesn’t bother Kakashi as much as he thought it would.

He hesitates as Obito climbs up onto the bed, making a satisfied noise at the soft blankets. Rin goes up next to him, and they peer at Kakashi hopefully, sending meaningful looks at the spot beside them on the bed.

Kakashi feels horribly out of place, as if he’s not suppose to be there, but the second he moves to draw back, Obito grabs him.

“Right, no more of this hesitant crap,” the Uchiha says tactlessly. “You agreed to it already, there’s no backing out now.” He pulls Kakashi onto the bed, and suddenly there are warm bodies on both of his sides. He freezes.

“Relax, won’t you?” Rin whispers. Kakashi _tries_ , he really does—but there’s a memory tugging at his mind: hands running through his hair, hugging him tightly, keeping him safe and then he’s _gone—gone forever, dead on the floor with his blood dripping onto the wood tiles—_

“Kakashi!” Minato cries. “Calm down! It’s alright!”

Kakashi is hyperventilating—he can’t get enough air into his lungs. Four hands rub at his back, his arms, his hair, comforting and soothing. Kakashi’s body goes limp underneath them, and he shudders as his breathing starts to slow.

“Don’t want you to disappear,” he gasps out, twisting to try and escape from their touches. “Don’t want you too—not like _him_ , please, don’t leave me, don’t want to be alone—everyone who touches me _disappears_ —mother… _father_ —"

He is shushed quickly, and the hands are back, roaming over his skin and leaving trails of warmth in their wake.

“We aren’t going anywhere,” Obito growls fiercely. “We aren’t leaving, Kakashi.”

Kakashi chokes out a wry laugh.

“How do you know?” he spits out bitterly. “You don’t know. You could die tomorrow, for all we know.”

“I won’t,” Obito vows. “Not tomorrow, not ever. And neither will Rin.”

The bed dips as Minato sits next to their puppy pile. He doesn’t join in the cuddlefest, but he brings up a hand to card through Kakashi’s hair. Kakashi leans mindlessly into the touch.

“None of us are going anywhere,” Minato-sensei says. “You trust us, right?”

“Do you promise?” Kakashi breathes, feeling small and insignificant in that moment, and Minato smiles.

“Of course,” he says. “We promise.” Rin and Obito nod in agreement.

Kakashi takes a deep breath, and lets himself _fall_.

His mind goes completely blank in a way he hasn’t allowed it to for at least a year. His body goes completely lax, and all he can focus on are the two warm bodies pressed up beside him and the hands that trail over his skin. They surround him with warmth, and care, and for a few aching moments Kakashi has to fight to hold back a sob of relief, because it feels so _amazing_ , and he can’t deny it. He feels cared for and _safe_ , and they promised they wouldn't leave—

Dimly he can hear his team speaking in low, soothing tones. The individual words don’t register, but Kakashi lets their voices wash over him as they snuggle closer to his body. Minato-sensei’s hand runs across his scalp repetitively.

Why had he decided that he hated this, again? It feels _incredible_. Why hadn’t he decided to do this sooner? He can’t remember. His body is overwhelmed with sensation, and it’s fogging up his mind. All he can focus on is the warmth.

They care for him, and aren’t afraid to show it. Kakashi feels something in his chest tighten, and relief echoes through his mind.

He falls asleep with their hands tracing patterns onto his skin, Rin and Obito curled up beside him and breathing deeply. He feels more relaxed than he’s been since his father died, and it is all too easy, after that, to slip into a deep, fulfilling sleep. Obito and Rin follow his example, until they’re all snoring in Minato’s bed—one huge tangle of arms and legs, with Kakashi stuck in the middle.

Minato smiles at the knot of genin and lets go of Kakashi’s silver hair gently. He’s not about to wake them, and he knows Kushina won’t, either. There’s a pull-out futon in their living room that he’s happy to have to use tonight.

He shuts the door behind him as he leaves.

Inside the room he has left behind, there is peace, and love. Three young shinobi, with bright futures ahead of them, who have come together as a team to protect their own.

* * *

 

Outside of the room, in the ANBU headquarters, a war council is held. Trouble is stirring, and violence threatens the country.

Bloodshed hangs on the horizon, and there is nothing Konoha can do to stop it.

 


	3. Language in War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War destroys indiscriminately, and leaves devastation in its wake. The Third Shinobi War is far from over--yet Minato's students are becoming strong. However, even the strongest of hearts can shatter under enough pressure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Initially I had planned for this chapter to end with the fated Kannabi Bridge mission--but it just didn't feel right, not quite yet. So here, have a chapter about children in war and more stuff about language instead. :)

War is nothing short of a nightmare.

After the initial attack, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin are promoted to chuunin in record time. Konoha is in desperate need of warriors, and while none of the students complain (chuunin at their age has to be some sort of record), the dark look Minato sends the Hokage is enough to make all three of them shiver.

In the end, they’re mere _children_ , and by promoting them this soon and sending them to war the Hokage has sentenced them to a fate worse than death—a sacrifice Minato understands because the fate of the village is at stake, but not one that he wants for his students.

(The Hokage’s face is flat and emotionless, and there are dark bags under his eyes at the chuunin promotion ceremony. His shudder as he pronounces the children worthy is only noticed by the most vigilant of ANBU, hidden deep within the shadows of the room.)

* * *

 

The war starts with massacres and showers of hot blood, and gets no better from there. Team Minato’s first official mission, only a few days after their promotion, is to locate and assist a squad of chuunin who had gone missing a day before, failing to reach their destination and leaving no clues to their whereabouts behind.

When Team Minato finally finds them, after three days of searching, there is nothing left to save.

The earth is stained red, and the bodies are torn and rent apart—near unrecognizable. The only reason Minato even realizes they’ve found their targets is the blood-stained Konoha hitai-ate, clenched tightly in the fist of one of the stiff bodies.

The stench is horrifying. Minato surveys the carnage grimly, and closes his eyes for a moment to pay his respects for the fallen. Behind him, Obito drops to his knees, letting out a quiet whimper, and Rin’s cry of shock and fear echoes far too loudly against the silent trees. Kakashi is silent, but his eyes are wide and he shrinks back a little, only stopping when Rin grabs his arm and holds it tightly.

Minato swallows the lump in his throat and pushes past his sorrow, clearing his mind and keeping his face blank as he turns to his horror-struck students.

This is only the beginning, after all. It will get much, _much_ worse before the war is over. If his students do not get use to it now, they’ll never be the same again, and Minato is very afraid for their mental states.

“Stand up, Obito,” he orders softly. “We must pay our respects to the dead.”

“Minato-sensei—” Obito chokes out, but he silences himself and struggles to his feet, lifting his goggles to wipe at his eyes. Rin steps closer to him, dragging their silver-haired teammate along, and grasps the Uchiha’s free hand with her own, so that all three of them are linked with Rin in the middle. She whispers quiet words to them that Minato can’t quite catch, and although her voice trembles slightly it does not falter.

Minato approves—Rin is in shock, just as much as her teammates are, but she’s also keeping the other two grounded, using their languages to prevent them from curling in on themselves.

Rin has always been stronger than she appears. Minato feels a twinge of pride at her resolve, and the way she holds onto Kakashi and Obito like she’s the only thing keeping them from turning tail and running.

“What do we do, Minato-sensei?” Kakashi asks quietly. He seems to have recovered from his initial shock, and pulls his arm away from Rin as his expression hardens. Rin’s face falls for a split second and she glances at him in concern, but she makes no move to reclaim his hand.

Minato sets his jaw. “We do nothing,” he decides. “We’re not authorized to recollect the bodies. We need to report this to the Hokage so that he can send someone who is.”

They stare at him in shock.

“We can’t… do _anything_?” Obito asks, frozen in place, and it makes Minato’s heart _ache_ , because he understands Obito’s distress more than the others do—their language is both acts of service, and it is instinct to do whatever they can for these brave warriors who met their end serving their village. The pain, frustration, and horror of not being able to do so is… indescribable.

“No,” he admits softly, avoiding the Uchiha’s shocked gaze and turning back to the bloodbath before them. He counts the assembled bodies—six, just as the mission logs had said. They’re all there. “There are ANBU who will take care of it.”

Obito makes a low, wounded sound in the back of his throat and his body trembles. Minato smashes down the brief feeling of guilt and turns away.

“Five minute’s rest,” he says. “Then we need to move again. Get ready."

As painful as it is, he is confident in his student’s strength. They are strong, and united as one in battle. He knows they’ll be able to push past this first trial.

Sure enough, when five minutes are up, the chuunin are on their feet, expressions hardened and eyes sharp. The transformation is astounding, almost wrong in bodies so young, but there’s no other way around it.

They take to the trees again, and disappear into the thick forest, leaving the bloodstained clearing behind.

* * *

 

  
Their first battle happens a few days later. They’re backing up a second squad, one made up of mostly jounin, and they are ambushed by a larger group of Iwagakure shinobi, who leap from the shadows with their swords raised. It is unexpected—the attack was well planned, and even Minato falters for a split second, recovering just in time to clash loudly with one of their attackers. His mind flashes to his students for a heartbeat, and he prays that they’ll be able to hold their own before he is forced into a brutal and bloody fight with one of the more powerful opponents.

Shouting and the sounds of clashing metal fills the air. A lightning jutsu is activated, and the smell of ozone stings his nose. The metallic tang of blood quickly follows as he ducks and parries and slashes at the man stopping him from going to the aid of his students.

A high shout rises above the rest of the din for a moment, a younger voice, and female—Rin. She hadn’t sounded in pain, but Minato’s heart stops for a split second anyway, and in his panic he throws all caution to the wind, diving forwards to plunge his kunai into his opponent’s chest. There’s a pain in his upper thigh, dulled by adrenaline, and he knows in his haste he’s been injured but can’t quite bring himself to care.

His students could be in trouble, and he’d rather die a thousand deaths than see them killed here.

He throws a thunder god kunai in the general direction of Rin’s voice and the world _flashes_ and _shifts_ until he is standing with the same kunai at his feet, and his students are just to his left.

They’re locked in combat with one of the weaker of their opponents, tag-teaming the other man. They surround him with glancing blows that the enemy shinobi can easily block, but with all three of the chuunin running circles around him and slashing at his every side he’s looking a bit overwhelmed. Even as Minato watches the man gets distracted by Kakashi and takes a shallow but long wound from Obito, and Rin lands a hit just after, darting in and slashing at the man’s undefended legs.  
His students work and move together, and their efficiency and teamwork takes Minato’s breath away.

They hadn’t been like this a mere three months ago, and the only explanation he can offer to explain is language.

Kakashi’s session those months ago had sparked a new sense of trust and comradery in his students—one that has stayed with them, and make them closer as a team.

Minato has never been more proud.

Around him he can hear the rest of their group finishing their battles—they’ve won this time. The Iwa nin had been unprepared for the amount of jounin their squad has, and payed the price.

Obito and Rin weave around their opponent, cleverly switching places and constantly moving so that the older shinobi can’t get in a good hit. They’re tired—they’ve held off this nin for a while now, and the man is obviously growing impatient. His strikes become faster, more forceful, and Rin cries out as the man picks a correct direction and slashes her upper arm.

Minato flinches at her shout and tenses, preparing to fling himself into the battle, but before he can even move he catches sight of a flash of silver out of the corner of his eyes. Kakashi comes shooting out of the darkness like a comet, his father’s blade unsheathed and howling for blood as it slashes through the air—

The edge drags across the Iwa shinobi’s throat, and he collapses as Kakashi lands lightly on the ground in between his teammates. Upon landing, Kakashi turns, sword at the ready again to defend himself just in case his blade hadn’t struck true. There’s no need, however—the Iwa nin is bleeding out onto the ground, twitching, and the surge of satisfaction Minato feels at his death is terrifyingly proud.

“Everyone alright?” the captain of their group calls out, sounding a little out of breath. “Minato-san, are your chuunin still alive?”

Minato calls back an affirmative even as he’s hurrying over to Rin’s side, where she is awkwardly struggling to bandage her wound with one hand. Obito and Kakashi beat him there, however, grabbing her arm with gentle hands and putting pressure the cut, bandaging it with textbook precision.

They seem alright, for now. Minato decides it’s better for his team to focus on the fact that Rin is injured rather than realize that they’ve just made their first official kill.

* * *

 

When they return to Konoha Minato’s students throw themselves into training, for hours on end and only stopping if Minato intervenes. They’re strong, but they’re only chuunin, and all three of them know that if they are to survive the war they will need to become as powerful as possible.

Obito and Rin progress at a steady rate, their improvement clear in their growing arsenal of jutsus and combat skills—but it is Kakashi who blows Minato away with his progress. The boy is a certified genius, and sometimes Minato forgets that—but he can’t possibly forget it now, as he watches Kakashi pick up new ninjutsu and taijutsu skills almost as fast as Minato can teach them.

The Hatake boy is powerful, and Minato wonders if that will turn out to be a blessing or a curse.

The Hokage gives their team two months to train, and it’s only because he has students that Minato isn’t immediately deployed again—although he expects that will change as the war continues. So he teaches them, and trains them diligently, watching helplessly as they become hardened warriors underneath his hands.

He is training killers. He has to, if he wants them to live.

However, at night, when all three tired chuunin come knocking at his door, Minato lets them in without a second thought. He and Kushina watch happily as the three young students take over their bedroom, usually pulling a slightly reluctant (but growing slowly less hesitant) Kakashi behind them and curling up in the safety of their sensei’s home.

Their bond is near unbreakable now, despite the fact that almost nothing has changed—Obito and Kakashi still fight like cats and dogs, and Rin is still the one to play peacekeeper, putting herself between the two and refusing to move until her idiot teammates calm down. But Minato can see it, the dedication and loyalty they have to one another. It is evident in how they fight, how they train… and in the caring way they curl up at night, with Kakashi in the middle just to make sure he never gets as bad as he had been before the war began.

Together, they are strong… and Minato prays that it’ll be enough to get them through this war alive.

* * *

Both the languages Acts of Service and Receiving gifts are interlocking, in a way, mainly because it all depends on a user’s definition of the two. An act of service, for example, could be seen as a gift. On the other hand, giving a gift to another could be seen as an act of service. Rin sees her medical ninjutsu as a gift she can give to others, so Minato isn’t surprised when, upon arriving at the devastated site of the last battle, she heads straight for the medical tent.

Minato’s team had been given the task of simply providing support to the surviving shinobi. There had been a massive attack that had left a large section of Konoha’s forces wounded, and healthy bodies were needed to stand guard, patrol, and assist the medic-nin.

Rin doesn’t say anything, but the moment she is pointed in the direction of the medical tent she turns on her heel and marches purposely through the camp. Wordlessly, Obito and Kakashi follow her, flanking her sides and surveying the surrounding shinobi as if protecting her—and they are. Minato has no choice but to follow his determined students into the medical tent.

It smells of blood and antiseptic, the scent almost overwhelmingly thick the moment Minato steps through the thin flap. There are dozens of shinobi on the ground, with all sorts of injuries that range from burns to cuts to crushed limbs. Rin’s eyes are wide, and she immediately abandons them in favor of rushing to the head medic, who directs her to a line of shinobi with a haggard look and a grim “good luck”.

Obito, too, immediately seeks out a way to help, and within moments he is rushing back and forth between the aisles, carrying pitchers of water and offering quiet words of comfort to any who will listen. His face is pinched, but he maintains a calm facade and although he trembles when he sees some of the more life-threatening injuries he does not stop to grieve.

Kakashi is still, at Minato’s side. He doesn’t move, staring wordlessly at the chaos, and Minato suddenly realizes that this probably isn’t the best place for the young prodigy. Kakashi is slowly getting more comfortable with being touched, but only by his teammates, and the atmosphere of the hastily erected hospital might be uncovering a few bad memories—one bad memory in particular, actually. Kakashi isn’t afraid of blood, or wounds, but there is something different about a hospital that could make it feel much more like that night where Kakashi had found his father.

Minato puts a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder and smiles when the boy does not flinch away.

“I think you and I are better suited to help patrol the perimeter and make sure those enemy shinobi don’t come back, don’t you think?” he asks quietly. Kakashi nods once, and Minato steers him out of the tent. His own language is acts of service as well, but he can also help serve by guarding their camp. There are many ways to serve—and Kakashi needs someone with him right now, as well.

He trusts Obito and Rin to do the best they can.

After that mission, while they are returning, Rin collapses halfway home, body trembling and lips blue. Minato catches her when she falls, and immediately realizes that it’s some sort of language deprivation—out of the seven shinobi Rin had worked with, all whom had been very close to death, she had only managed to save two, and her shock and self-loathing at the failure had delivered a devastating blow to her language energy. She shakes in Minato’s arms, choking on dry sobs, and Minato curses the Iwa-nin for causing such pain in a child.

“ _Couldn’t save them_ ,” she whispers, over and over again, burying her face in Minato’s chest. “ _Couldn’t do it, not enough chakra, couldn’t help--_ ”

Her words thrust spikes deep into Minato’s heart.

They delay their journey in favor of finding a quiet clearing somewhere within the forest of Fire Country and settling for a few hours. Minato watches over Rin carefully, allowing her to cry the sorrow out of her system while Kakashi and Obito disappear for a few minutes. When they return, they are carrying two of the most enormous bunches of brightly colored flowers Minato has ever seen. The boys hand them to Rin unceremoniously before curling into her sides like loyal dogs against the trunk of one of the larger trees. Her eyes are wide and tear-filled, but she accepts the beautiful gifts and closes her eyes when the warmth of her teammates surround her.

Minato takes one of the flowers and tucks it behind Rin’s hair tenderly, smiling at the girl softly when she opens her eyes.

“Sensei,” she whispers, and reaches for him—he obliges her, coming closer, and is eventually pulled into the puppy pile, settling against the tree on the left side next to Obito. Rin takes a deep breath and then smiles, a ray of sunshine appearing from behind clouds.

“Thank you, Minato-sensei,” she says, and it is then that Minato knows she’ll be alright.

They fall asleep like that, even Minato (although he suspects Kakashi stays half-awake, which is good because Minato is embarrassed to admit that he wasn’t paying attention to their surroundings _at all_ —if an enemy shinobi had passed by, Minato wouldn’t have even noticed). When he wakes up several hours later he is surprised to find that the small chunin heap has shifted while they were resting, putting him at the center—Rin is leaning against his side, Kakashi is slumped against his right leg, and Obito has somehow moved from his left side to his right, taking the position opposite Rin.

His arms and right leg are asleep for most of the journey afterwards, and the scolding they get from the Hokage for being late is expectedly stern.

Minato doesn’t care, though. The safekeeping of his team is well worth all the time, resources, and scoldings in the world. Minato will have to be scolded a million times, and tortured a few million more, before he even considers letting anything happen to his chuunin.

* * *

 

Their fourteenth mission of the war, almost six months after it had begun, begins well enough. Their team has successfully completed nine out of thirteen missions—a record that is very respectable, especially for chuunin. Minato knows jounin teams who don’t have that good success rates. As such, the Hokage begins to assign them more difficult missions—ones that could potentially impact the war itself.

Their fourteenth mission is to eliminate an enemy outpost that had been located by scouts only days before. According to their intel there are only three shinobi at the outpost, none above chuunin level, which is why the Hokage sees fit to take one of the enemy shinobi _alive_. It is a dangerous task, but Minato has faith in his team, and he’s sure he’ll be able to take out three chuunin should anything go horrifically wrong.

So they accept the mission, and it goes perfectly at the beginning. Kakashi and Obito take out the first two enemy chuunin silently, and the third Rin knocks out with expert placement of a sleeping gas tag. His team reassembles in the clearing as Rin is tying up their captive, and Minato leaves his cover and steps out to congratulate them.

That’s where everything goes wrong.

Minato is keeping a careful eye on their captive to make sure the Iwa nin is truly asleep, just in case, and in doing so fails to see the senbon speeding towards him until it is much too late to avoid it. It thuds into his right calf, and he grunts at the impact, staggering slightly and whirling to face the direction the projectile had come from. There’s some type of poison on the senbon now buried in his leg—poison-tipped, most likely, but he doesn’t notice until his entire leg goes numb, buckling beneath his weight and sending him crashing towards the ground.

The moment he’s down, six enemy shinobi emerge from the trees—a jounin and several chuunin, but these men obviously have much more experience than the jokers at the outpost had. Minato swears, struggling to get back to his feet. His team are frozen in surprise, but none of the enemy are aiming for them—they’re all converging on Minato.

It's a trap.

“Run!” he barks out, drawing a kunai and bracing himself. When they don’t move, he repeats the order, louder this time, and they scatter on his second command, disappearing into the trees. The moment they are gone Minato is swarmed by enemies who cut and slash with his skin, stabbing him with more numbing senbon until he can’t move—

But at least his students are safe.

Three men pin him to the ground even though he’s been stuck enough times to be numb for the next week.

The jounin leans over him. The man is leering, and he chuckles as he gestures for the other two men to tie Minato’s limbs with rope and strip him of his weaponry.

“Hello, Yellow Flash,” the man says. “I suppose you aren’t nearly as impressive in real life as the legends claim, but I had a feeling that would be the case.”

Minato glares at him, but doesn’t say anything. He has nothing to gain from speaking with this imbecile.

“Not feeling up for a conversation?” the man asks. “Well, that’s alright. Maybe those tiny chuunin will be more in the mood, especially if we cut them up a bit. What do you think?”

Minato doesn’t react—it’ll make things worse if he does—but unfortunately this jounin seems to understand perfectly well that Minato wants to kill them all for even suggesting such a thing.

They finish tying him up, and in dismay Minato realizes that he _really_ can’t move.

This is bad. Extremely so.

“Good work, everyone,” the enemy jounin says. “Now, go after those children before they can warn anyone. I doubt they’ve gotten far, but I want them alive, for now. The Yellow Flash won’t tell us anything useful unless we give him a reason to.”

Minato resists the urge to growl, and can only watch helplessly as the five experienced chuunin disappear into the trees to hunt down his students. The jounin stays behind, sitting casually against a tree and sharpening a kunai methodically, as if it is a habit. His watchful eye stays on Minato without faltering. Neither of them speak, and Minato is perfectly fine with that.

After a few tense minutes, an explosion sounds, and the ground trembles minutely. The jounin pauses, and lowers his kunai.

“Seems like my men have found your teammates, Yellow Flash,” he says conversationally. “How long will it take them to return, I wonder?”

Minato ignores him and prays that his students are alright.

Several minutes pass tensely, and the jounin begins to look annoyed.

“Honestly, can those incompetent idiots do anything? They should have taken down those kids ten minutes ago!”

Minato smiles for the first time, and it isn’t missed by the jounin, who scowls at him.

“Think that’s funny, Flash?” he growls. “I’ll show you funny.”

He rises in a blur of motion and lands a solid kick into Minato’s undefended stomach. Minto gasps, coughing at the impact, and another kick lands on his ribs.

“Still laughing now, Flash?” the man taunts, and more blows rain down on Minato’s undefended body, until he knows he’ll have bruises that will anger Kushina to levels almost unimaginable. He’s no stranger to torture, but that doesn’t make this hurt any less, and his inability to move only makes it worse.

Suddenly, a bush on the edge of the clearing rustles, and a small form bounds out of the shadows—one that Minato recognizes, and his heart sinks in his chest.

“Obito, no!” he shouts, straining, pushing at his lax muscles to _move_ , but they do not obey him, and neither does Obito, who charges forwards recklessly with a kunai in each hand.

“Don’t touch Minato-sensei!” he cries, and the jounin chuckles, turning his back to Minato to deflect the Uchiha’s quick blows.

“Hello there,” the jounin says in a falsely-sweet voice. “Well, aren’t you cute? Pity I have to mess you up a little.”

“Obito, don’t—!” Minato tries again, but both combatants ignore him, and Obito charges again, leaping into the air and throwing a line of shuriken. The jounin dodge them easily and rushes Obito, who leaps backwards just in time to avoid his blade. Obito is panting, eyes wide behind his goggles, and he cries out when the jounin catches him, backhanding him so hard that he goes flying into a tree.

Minato is about to yell again as the jounin approaches the reeling chuunin, but before he can say anything, someone appears at his side, swift and silent as a shadow—Rin.

Another explosion sounds from far away, and Minato stares at Rin in confusion. She presses a finger to her lips as Obito lets out another war cry, and this time his shout of pain is accompanied by a chuckle from his tormentor. Her hands gently pull senbon from his body, and green medical ninjutsu flits across his skin, healing the small wounds. At the same time she holds a vial to his lips with one hand, tipping a liquid into his mouth. He swallows it greedily, and feels her chakra overlap his, speeding the antidote through his body.

Obito shouts, and it is cut off at the end. Minato can finally move, and even as Rin's fingers quest over his body for more wounds he sits up, turning his head—

The enemy jounin’s hand is closed around Obito’s neck, and he’s lifting the Uchiha into the air. Obito thrashes, kicking and clawing at the hands around his neck, but his efforts are futile, and his face is screwed up in pain.

Minato sees _red_. He’s moving before he even realizes it—the kunai in his hand is Rin’s and he moves with a speed worthy of his nickname, plunging it through the man’s throat and then belly before the man can even blink. He had been so entertained by Obito’s suffering that he hadn’t even seen Minato move.

“You won’t touch any of them again,” Minato snarls as the man collapses, releasing Obito as he falls. Obito drops to his knees, gasping and choking for breath. There’s a wound on the side of his head that is bleeding freely—it looks bad, and Minato reaches for him, only to have Obito pull away, pushing himself back to his feet.

“What are you—” Minato asks, and Obito tosses him a nervous look.

“Kakashi,” is all he says, leaping to the trees again with Rin hot on his heels. Minato follows them, body still protesting as it recovers from the poison.

It clicks in his mind, what his students have done, as he follows Obito and Rin at top speed through the treetops. Upon seeing Minato captured, the three had run a short distance away. Obito and Rin had hid, and Kakashi had allowed their pursuers to spot him, fooling them into thinking all three of them were still running and leading them on a wild chase, farther away from the fake outpost. After the enemies had passed, Obito and Rin had circled back, and while Obito had distracted the jounin Rin had healed Minato so that he could deliver the final blow.

It was a good plan, but Kakashi was alone somewhere, with five high-level chuunin opponents. No wonder Obito and Rin had moved on so quickly.

The explosions have stopped. Minato doesn’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. The three of them increase their speed in silent agreement.

Their chakras are stretched wide, searching for any sign of their teammate, and finally Minato senses something—a brief glimmer of chakra, weak, but friendly, and just to their left. He signals to Obito and Rin, diving through the trees—

He stops short when he sees the scene that awaits him.

There is blood _everywhere_. It coats the ground thickly, and the thin shrubbery is also covered in crimson. Three bodies are sprawled across the ground—all dead, for certain. One has a section of his chest blown out, another has several of her major arteries slashed. The third has a massive stomach wound that would have been extremely painful, and his death wouldn’t have been quick.

Obito and Rin stifle cries as they land next to him, but this isn’t their first time being exposed to this type of gore. They endure the horrific sight with narrowed eyes and closed off expressions. They’ve come a long way from how they were at the beginning.

Minato steps forwards cautiously as a wisp of chakra brushes against his own tentatively, and as he does so he finally locates their missing member.

Kakashi is sitting on the ground in the center of the carnage, and he’s absolutely covered in blood—both from his opponents, and his own wounds, some of which are still dripping tiny red droplets onto the ground. His silver hair is matted with the stuff. His father’s blade sits beside him, and his hand, slick with the sticky liquid, dances over the hilt restlessly.

“Kakashi,” Minato calls softly—hesitantly, because who knows what Kakashi’s state of mind is after such a battle. “Kakashi, can you hear me?”

It takes a moment, but Kakashi nods sluggishly, lifting his head. His eyes are focused—too focused, almost. Minato recognizes the bloodlust and battle adrenaline, gritting his teeth.

“Kakashi!” he calls again, more urgently this time, and ignores the blood beneath his feet as he surges towards his student. Kakashi sees him coming and tenses, hand gripping his sword tightly. When Minato is several yards away, he slows, and comes to a stop.

“It’s us, Kakashi,” he says, and yes, Obito and Rin are right behind him, eyes on Kakashi and nothing else. “You did a good job… but it’s time to come back to us now. Are you listening?”

Kakashi’s whole body shudders.  
“I—I don’t—” he starts, and then he blinks, shaking his head back and forth as if to clear it. He takes several deep breaths, barely hanging on to his control.

“It’s alright,” Minato reassures. “You’re safe now. You don’t have to fight anymore right now.”

Kakashi tips his head back.

“Oh,” he says quietly. “Minato-sensei.”

That’s a good sign. Minato lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Obito moves as if to rush forwards, but Minato holds him back with a raised arm.

“Can we come closer?” he asks slowly, and Kakashi tilts his head.

“Yes?” he says, as if he doesn’t really know, but Minato takes it as an affirmative and steps into Kakashi’s personal space. Kakashi stands carefully, as if he has to concentrate to keep his balance.

“You’re alright,” Minato soothes carefully, and then, expecting the worst, moves his hand slowly to touch Kakashi’s shoulder.

At the contact Kakashi jolts, body twisting, and the chuunin’s hand snaps out to grab Minato’s wrist in a vice grip. Minato freezes and waits.

After a long moment, Kakashi’s hand falls away. His body relaxes, and all of the fight drains out of muscles.

“Minato-sensei,” he says, stark relief in his voice, and suddenly he steps forwards and grabs Minato in a hug, hiding his face. His body entire body shakes. Minato blinks, a little startled—Kakashi is always hesitant about contact even if he is finally growing more used to it, but he isn’t normally the one to start it. It’s surprising that he’s doing it now, but in the wake of the fight he’s just been in Minato can’t blame him for wanting to do so. He returns the hug and ignores the blood clinging to his vest after Kakashi pulls away.

Obito and Rin watch their teammate carefully.

“You okay now?” Obito grunts, and Kakashi inclines his head, adjusting his face mask and moving to retrieve his father’s blade. He wipes it off on a patch of clean grass tenderly before sheathing it and turning back to his team, and they are all relieved to see that his eyes have returned back to normal.

“I’m fine,” Kakashi says. “I could only kill three of them, the other two ran after they saw…”

 _What I did to the others_ hangs in the air unsaid, but they all understand.

“You did well, Kakashi,” Minato says, patting Kakashi’s head and shaking his own when his hand comes away bloodied. “But you need a shower, badly.”

Kakashi looks down at himself, at his hands, and for a long moment he is silent. Minato wonders what is running through his head. He's definitely _not_ okay, but he's hiding it well, and Minato wants to complete the mission before he does anything to try and help.

“So I do,” Kakashi finally says, lowering his arms and making a visible effort to brush it off. “Sensei, what happened to our captive? Did we succeed the mission?”

He still has several weeping wounds, and when he tries to step closer he almost stumbles. A hiss of pain escapes from his lips.

Rin darts forwards, green chakra already at her fingertips, and Minato sighs.

“I don’t know what happened to our target,” he admits. “I’ll go check if you’ll give me a moment.”

His weaponry, along with his Thunder God kunai, are still back at the clearing, having been confiscated by the enemy, and he flashes to one of them in an instant and a bright flare of light. He ignores the jounin’s dead body and glances around for their target—to his surprise, the man _is_ still there, awake but immobilized and glaring angrily at him.

“Huh,” Minato says. “Mission success, I suppose.” In their enemy’s excitement in capturing him they’d completely forgotten to free their own comrade. He grabs the struggling captive, ignoring the man’s muted protests (they’d gagged him earlier) and focuses again, latching onto one of his kunai that he’d given to his team and flashing back to them.

They are extremely pleased by the news of success, and Obito’s crow of triumph echoes through the forest.

Kakashi is silent the rest of the way home, and Minato hides his worry, and hopes that the war will end before anything else can damage his students further.

* * *

 

As the war drags on their nightmares become more and more frequent, until Minato can’t even go a single night without waking up and hearing the tiny whimpers coming from the other room. Obito gets them the most, crying out in his sleep and thrashing to escape from invisible attackers. Rin gets them sometimes, too, whimpering and fidgeting fitfully in her sleep.

It’s very hard to tell when Kakashi has nightmares, unless they’re particularly bad. Normally the only indication is a slight increase in breathing, and only once Minato has heard him groan—a twisted sound that was a fine mix between sorrow, pain, and regret that makes Minato’s heart clench.

Minato wakes them up if he notices before any of the others do, but in their piles if you wake one, you wake all three. Nightmares usually end with Minato’s students snuggling closer to each other with the victim in the middle, leaving Minato to fetch glasses of water, and sometimes painkillers for those nightmares that happen right after they get home from a mission.

Cuddles are good, because they fit all three of the chuunin’s languages—physical touch, obviously, for Kakashi, acts of service from the kindness, for Obito, and receiving gifts from the sacrifice, for Rin.

Minato and Kushina have all but surrendered their bedroom to the three, and take up residence in the guest bedroom, but neither of them mind enough to protest.

War is not easy, on any of them—but Minato’s students are growing, both in power and in maturity. They rely on their teammates with a trust that will not be broken—not if Minato has anything to say about it—and he hopes that it’ll be enough to keep them together.

The world is cruel. He knows it, and now they know it—but at least they know it together.

Minato can only pray for their safety.

Outside Konoha’s walls, the war rages on.


End file.
